throw it over the wall

Throw It Over the Wall

Handing off work without context, coordination, or accountability — transferring a task to another team and considering it done regardless of whether they have what they need to continue.

When you'd see it: Cross-team coordination failures. 'They just threw it over the wall' appears in post-mortems when a project failed because team A handed off to team B without context and moved on. Also used in pre-mortem discussions: 'we can't just throw this over the wall to engineering.'

Why it matters: The phrase identifies a handoff failure mode: the person throwing considers their job done, but the recipient doesn't have enough context to pick it up. Most integration failures, shipping delays, and cross-functional frustrations trace back to a wall-throw.

Common mistakes: Assuming that sending an email or a ticket constitutes a proper handoff. A real handoff involves context, a clear success state, and confirmation that the recipient can proceed. Silence after a handoff isn't acceptance — it's usually confusion.

Related closing the loop, single-throat-to-choke